Task allocation method and device, scheduling equipment, storage medium and program product

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a task allocation method and device, scheduling equipment, a storage medium and a program product. The task allocation method comprises the following steps: when the number of to-be-carried material boxes corresponding to a workstation meets a triggering condition of a tail clearing scene, determining a target carrying material box corresponding to the tail clearing scene; the to-be-carried workbins are grouped, at least one task group is obtained, the task group corresponding to the target carrying workbin is different from the task groups corresponding to other workbins, and the other workbins are workbins except the target carrying workbin in the to-be-carried workbins; according to the sorting result of the at least one task group, distributing a robot for the at least one task group so as to control the distributed robot to carry the at least one task group to a workstation; in the sorting result, the task group containing the target carrying work bin is arranged before the task group not containing the target carrying work bin. Through the identification of the tail clearing scene and the strategy of preferentially processing the tail box, the processing efficiency of the order entering the tail clearing stage is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of warehousing technology, and in particular to a task allocation method, apparatus, scheduling equipment, storage medium, and program product. Background Art

[0002] Due to differences in sorting capabilities, warehouse system workstation collection schemes vary. This is especially true for scenarios with large order volumes and low sorting requirements, such as the transit phase of a return warehouse. Because detailed sorting operations are unnecessary and rapid outbound delivery is the only requirement, workstation designs often tend to be simplified. For example, they might use very few slots, or even no slots at all, instead using cage carts or turnover boxes as collection containers. This improves outbound delivery efficiency and reduces sorting time.

[0003] When studying the scheduling of the warehouse system for the aforementioned scenario, the present disclosure found that when a workstation completes a certain amount of orders assigned to a wave, the amount of tasks to be assigned will be less than the actual production capacity of the workstation. In order to make full use of the workstation's transportation capacity, a new wave of orders will usually be sent to the workstation. The mixed processing of new and old waves will cause the tail boxes of the old wave orders to be processed slower, resulting in low efficiency in processing the old wave orders. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The disclosed embodiments provide a task allocation method, apparatus, scheduling equipment, storage medium, and program product. When it is detected that the material boxes to be transported assigned by the workstation meet the triggering conditions of the tail-clearing scenario, the material boxes corresponding to the tail-clearing scenario are allocated first, thereby improving the efficiency of tail-box transportation and shortening the processing time of a single wave order.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a task assignment method, including: when the number of to-be-carried boxes corresponding to a workstation meets the triggering condition of a tail-clearing scenario, determining a target to-be-carried box corresponding to the tail-clearing scenario; grouping the to-be-carried boxes to obtain at least one task group, wherein the task group corresponding to the target to-be-carried box is different from the task groups corresponding to other boxes, and the other boxes are boxes other than the target to-be-carried box among the boxes to-be-carried; according to the sorting result of at least one task group, assigning a robot to at least one task group to control the assigned robot to transport at least one task group to the workstation; wherein, in the sorting result, the task group including the target to-be-carried box is arranged before the task group not including the target to-be-carried box.

[0006] In one possible embodiment, when the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation meets the triggering conditions of the tail-clearing scenario, the target transport box corresponding to the tail-clearing scenario is determined, including: when the number of boxes to be transported is less than a first quantity threshold, all the boxes to be transported are determined as target transport boxes; or, when the number of boxes with high priority among the boxes to be transported is less than a second quantity threshold, the boxes with high priority are determined as target transport boxes.

[0007] In one possible embodiment, the task allocation method also includes: when the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation is less than a third quantity threshold, allocating the target wave order to the workstation; setting the priority of the boxes to be transported higher than the priority of the boxes corresponding to the target wave order.

[0008] In one possible embodiment, the boxes to be transported are grouped to obtain at least one task group, including: obtaining the aisle access sequence of the warehousing system; grouping the boxes to be transported based on the aisle access sequence, the type of the boxes to be transported, the aisle where the boxes to be transported are located, the robot's maximum walking distance, and the robot's single box transport volume to obtain at least one task group; wherein the type of the boxes to be transported is used to indicate whether the boxes to be transported are target transport boxes.

[0009] In one possible implementation, a robot is assigned to at least one task group based on a sorting result of at least one task group, including: traversing each task group based on the sorting result; for any traversed task group, calculating the transportation cost of each available robot corresponding to the workstation to execute the task group, and assigning a robot to the task group based on the transportation cost.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the transportation cost of each available robot corresponding to the workstation to execute the task group is calculated, including: determining the number of aisles crossed by the task group and the number of turns of the robot when executing the task group based on the aisle where the to-be-carried boxes in the task group are located; calculating the box moving cost of the available robots to carry the boxes to be carried in the task group based on the position of the available robots for each available robot corresponding to the workstation; determining the transportation cost of the available robots to execute the task group based on the number and priority of the boxes to be carried in the task group, the number of aisles crossed by the task group and the number of turns of the robot when executing the task group, the degree of congestion in the aisle where the boxes to be carried in the task group are located, and the box moving cost.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the cost of moving boxes to be moved in the available robot handling task group is calculated based on the position of the available robots, including: if the available robot is executing other task groups, then based on the position of the available robot and the storage location of the boxes to be moved in other task groups, the in-transit cost of the available robot is determined; based on the in-transit cost of the available robot and the walking distance of the available robot executing the task group, the cost of moving boxes to be moved in the available robot handling task group is determined.

[0012] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a task assignment device, including: a tail-clearing mechanism triggering module, for determining a target transport box corresponding to a tail-clearing scenario when the number of to-be-transported boxes corresponding to a workstation meets the triggering condition of the tail-clearing scenario; a task grouping module, for grouping the boxes to be transported to obtain at least one task group, wherein the task group corresponding to the target transport box is different from the task groups corresponding to other boxes, and the other boxes are boxes to be transported other than the target transport box; a task assignment module, for assigning a robot to at least one task group according to a sorting result of at least one task group, so as to control the assigned robot to transport at least one task group to a workstation; wherein, in the sorting result, the task group including the target transport box is arranged before the task group not including the target transport box.

[0013] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a scheduling device, comprising: a memory, a processor; the memory stores computer-executable instructions; the processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory, so that the processor executes the first aspect above and / or various possible implementations of the first aspect.

[0014] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which computer-executable instructions are stored. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, they are used to implement the above-mentioned first aspect and / or various possible implementations of the first aspect.

[0015] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer program product, including a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, implements the above first aspect and / or various possible implementations of the first aspect.

[0016] The task allocation method, apparatus, scheduling equipment, storage medium and program product provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure realize the identification of the tail-clearing scenario through the set tail-clearing scenario trigger conditions, thereby giving priority to assigning robot tasks to the material boxes in the tail-clearing scenario, i.e., the target transporting material boxes, so that the robot gives priority to transporting the material boxes in the tail-clearing scenario, speeding up the processing speed of the wave orders corresponding to the tail-clearing scenario, shortening the processing time, and improving the order processing efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a warehousing system provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the task allocation method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure Figure 1 ;

[0020] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the task allocation method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure Figure 2 ;

[0021] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a lane access sequence provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the task allocation method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure Figure 3 ;

[0023] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the structure of a task allocation device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0024] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the structure of the scheduling device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] The above drawings illustrate specific embodiments of the present disclosure, which will be described in more detail below. These drawings and textual descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way, but rather to illustrate the concepts of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art by reference to specific embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein, with examples illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, when referring to the drawings, identical numerals in different figures represent identical or similar elements, unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments are not intended to represent all possible embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the present disclosure, as detailed in the appended claims.

[0027] First, some of the terms involved in this disclosure are explained:

[0028] SKU (Stock Keeping Unit): refers to the smallest available unit for inventory management in a warehousing system.

[0029] Wave: Orders are usually divided into waves according to the release time. Orders in the same wave can have the same release time or a close release time interval.

[0030] Cage carts: These are large-capacity transport or storage containers within a warehouse system, typically located in slots at workstations and used for cargo turnover. Orders from different waves can be placed in separate cage carts for physical isolation.

[0031] Put Wall: Also known as a spread wall, it is an area within a warehouse system used to store sorted items. It typically consists of multiple floors, each floor featuring one or more slots (also called grids). Each slot corresponds to a container, such as a cage truck, for goods circulation. During sorting, the goods required for an order are collected in the corresponding slots and shipped out of the warehouse.

[0032] Slots: The basic building blocks of a putwall or workstation, serving as containers for circulating goods. For multi-layer putwalls, slots are defined by the space on each layer, typically openings or recesses in the putwall's shelves or containers for placing goods. Each slot corresponds to a specific order. Using technologies like electronic tags, sorters or robotic arms are clearly instructed to place the goods required for the order into the container in that slot, enabling precise sorting according to order and improving warehouse sorting efficiency and accuracy.

[0033] The workstations of the storage system can be equipped with one or more seed walls. Multiple seed walls of the same workstation can share slots, or each seed wall can be divided into one or more slots.

[0034] For workstations that use larger containers such as cage cars for cargo turnover, the seed wall can be omitted, so that one workstation corresponds to one or more slots, with a cage car placed on each slot.

[0035] In some warehouse systems with large order volumes, multiple waves of orders may be processed at the same workstation. To handle these waves simultaneously, a workstation typically has multiple seed walls, each corresponding to a slot where the corresponding container stores the goods needed for the wave.

[0036] For example, Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a storage system provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in FIG. Figure 1 As shown, the storage system includes shelves for storing boxes, robots for performing box handling tasks, and workstations. A storage system may include one or more workstations. Figure 1 Take two workstations, workstation 1 and workstation 2, as an example. Each workstation is provided with a slot for storing containers. A workstation can be provided with one or more slots. Figure 1Workstation 1 includes 2 slots, and workstation 2 includes 1 seed wall. Each seed wall can correspond to m×n slots, where m and n are positive integers. Figure 1 Take, for example, a seed wall with 2×4 slots. The workstation can also include a display device to indicate the status of each slot, such as its location and the corresponding order. Each slot corresponds to a container for storing the goods sorted for the corresponding wave order. After a wave order is assigned to the corresponding workstation, a robot transports the bins matching the order assigned by the workstation to the workstation. A robotic arm or a worker, following the order task indicated by the display device, sorts the goods required for the wave order from the bins and stores them in the corresponding container for the slot, such as a cage truck. After the goods required for a wave order are sorted, the cage truck is used to transfer the goods for that wave order for subsequent packaging, weighing, labeling, and other operations.

[0037] For the scenario where the workstation processes multiple waves simultaneously, the study found that when the assigned current wave of orders has been completed to a certain amount, for example, nearing the end, if tasks continue to be assigned at the same time as other wave orders, the processing time of the current wave of orders will be longer and the processing efficiency will be lower. At the same time, the current wave will occupy the slot for a longer time, which will affect the timely processing of subsequent wave orders, resulting in waste of resources and low overall order processing efficiency.

[0038] In order to solve the aforementioned problems, the present disclosure provides a task allocation method, which adds a trigger condition for the tail-clearing scenario to timely identify the wave orders entering the final stage, thereby giving priority to allocating tasks for the wave orders entering the final stage, so as to speed up the processing efficiency of the wave orders entering the final stage, thereby speeding up the slot release speed and facilitating the timely processing of subsequent wave orders.

[0039] The following detailed description of the technical solution of the present disclosure and how the technical solution of the present disclosure solves the above-mentioned technical problems is provided with specific embodiments. The following specific embodiments may be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described in detail in some embodiments. The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0040] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the task allocation method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure Figure 1 , the task allocation method can be executed by the scheduling device of the storage system, and the scheduling device can be a computer, a server or other electronic devices, such as Figure 2 As shown, the task allocation method includes:

[0041] Step S201 : When the number of to-be-transported boxes corresponding to the workstation meets the triggering condition of the tail-clearing scenario, a target transport box corresponding to the tail-clearing scenario is determined.

[0042] A workstation's corresponding unhandled bin is a bin that has been assigned to an order and whose corresponding task group has not yet been assigned to a robot. A waiting bin is a bin waiting to be transported to the workstation and whose corresponding task group has not yet been assigned to a robot. A bin being "order-hit" means that it contains all or part of the goods required for the order and has been selected by the warehousing system to fulfill the order.

[0043] The triggering conditions of the tail-clearing scenario are used to determine whether to enter the tail-clearing scenario, that is, to determine whether one or more wave orders assigned by the workstation enter the tail-clearing stage or the tail-clearing stage.

[0044] Specifically, when the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation or the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to a wave order assigned to the workstation is less than the corresponding quantity threshold, the corresponding boxes to be transported meet the triggering conditions of the tail-clearing scenario, and the corresponding boxes to be transported are determined as the target transport boxes.

[0045] It can be determined whether the number of to-be-handled containers corresponding to each wave of orders assigned by the workstation meets the triggering conditions for the tail-clearance scenario. If so, the to-be-handled containers corresponding to the wave of orders are determined as target containers. If the number of to-be-handled containers corresponding to a wave of orders is lower than a preset quantity threshold, such as a second quantity threshold, the triggering conditions for the tail-clearance scenario are met, and the to-be-handled containers corresponding to the wave of orders are determined as target containers.

[0046] In addition to determining target bins based on wave size, that is, determining whether each wave of orders being processed by a workstation meets the trigger conditions for a tail-clearance scenario, tail-clearance scenarios can also be identified based on workstation size. Specifically, if the number of bins to be handled for all orders assigned to the workstation (which can be a single wave or multiple waves) is less than a certain quantity threshold, such as a first quantity threshold, all remaining bins to be handled are determined to be target bins.

[0047] The first quantity threshold is greater than the second quantity threshold.

[0048] The second quantity threshold may be determined based on the number of robots corresponding to the workstation.

[0049] Exemplarily, the second quantity threshold may be M×N, where M is the number of robots corresponding to the workstation, and N is the maximum number of material boxes that the robot can carry at a single time, usually the number of robot backpacks, and one robot backpack can store one material box.

[0050] The first quantity threshold for a wave can be determined based on the number of boxes to be handled by robots within a workstation within a specified timeframe for orders in that wave. The specified timeframe can be a preset percentage of the total estimated processing time for orders in that wave, or a preset duration, such as 3 minutes or 5 minutes.

[0051] In order to distinguish different waves of orders processed simultaneously by the workstation, when a new wave of orders is assigned to a workstation, the priority of the to-be-moved boxes corresponding to the wave previously assigned to the workstation, that is, the old wave of orders, can be increased, so that the to-be-moved boxes with higher priorities can be moved first.

[0052] When the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the current wave order is less than the third quantity threshold, a new wave order can be assigned to a workstation, and the priority of the boxes to be transported corresponding to the current wave order can be set to a high priority, which is higher than the priority of the boxes to be transported corresponding to the new wave order. The priority of the boxes to be transported corresponding to the new wave order can be the default priority.

[0053] Optionally, the task allocation method further includes: when the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation is less than a third quantity threshold, allocating the target wave to the workstation; and setting the priority of the boxes to be transported higher than the priority of the boxes corresponding to the target wave.

[0054] The target wave can be any wave to which no workstations are assigned, such as the wave with the earliest delivery time or a specified wave.

[0055] Optionally, when the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation meets the triggering conditions of the tail-clearing scenario, the target transport box corresponding to the tail-clearing scenario is determined, including: when the number of boxes to be transported is less than a first quantity threshold, all the boxes to be transported are determined as target transport boxes; or when the number of high-priority boxes among the boxes to be transported is less than a second quantity threshold, the high-priority boxes are determined as target transport boxes.

[0056] The high priority is a priority higher than the default priority.

[0057] Exemplarily, the value corresponding to the default priority may be 0, and the value corresponding to the high priority may be any integer greater than 0, such as 1, 99, 999, 9999, etc.

[0058] The total number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation (which can be boxes to be transported corresponding to one wave or multiple waves) is less than a first quantity threshold, such as 50, 64, 100, 128, etc., and each box to be transported corresponding to the workstation is determined as a target transport box.

[0059] Specifically, it can be determined whether the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation is less than the first quantity threshold, and whether the number of high-priority boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation is less than the second quantity threshold; if the judgment results are both no, continue to execute the above steps to determine whether the triggering conditions of the tail-clearing scenario are met; if the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation is less than the first quantity threshold, then all boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation are determined as target transport boxes; if the number of high-priority boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation is less than the second quantity threshold, then the high-priority boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation are determined as target transport boxes.

[0060] You can first determine whether the number of to-be-transferred material boxes corresponding to the workstation is less than the first quantity threshold; if so, determine all to-be-transferred material boxes corresponding to the workstation as target transport material boxes; if not, when the priority of the to-be-transferred material boxes corresponding to the workstation includes a high priority, determine whether the number of high-priority to-be-transferred material boxes corresponding to the workstation is less than the second quantity threshold; if so, determine the high-priority to-be-transferred material boxes corresponding to the workstation as the target transport material boxes; if not, return to the step of determining whether the number of to-be-transferred material boxes corresponding to the workstation is less than the first quantity threshold.

[0061] If the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation is not less than the first quantity threshold, and the priority of the boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation does not include a high priority, for example, they are all default priorities, then return to the step of determining whether the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation is less than the first quantity threshold.

[0062] For example, taking the first quantity threshold as 64 and the second quantity threshold as 16, assuming that the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the first wave allocated to the workstation is reduced to 96, the second wave of orders is allocated to the workstation, wherein the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the second wave of orders is 32; assuming that at a certain moment, the combination of boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation is updated to 32 boxes to be transported corresponding to the first wave and 24 boxes to be transported corresponding to the second wave of orders, the total is 56, which is less than 64, then it can be determined that the 56 boxes to be transported are the target transport boxes.

[0063] In some scenarios, the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to a wave of orders is small, resulting in a small total number of boxes to be transported even if the workstation processes two or more waves of orders at the same time. In this case, there is no need to distinguish the order waves corresponding to the boxes to be transported, and all the boxes to be transported can be directly identified as target transport boxes, so as to give priority to transporting all the boxes to be transported by the workstation, thereby quickly processing the assigned waves of orders, improving the overall order processing efficiency, reducing the idle capacity rate, and at the same time, releasing workstation slots in time for processing subsequent waves of orders.

[0064] Through the designed tail-clearing scenario trigger conditions and priority configuration rules, priority processing of orders in the final stage and small waves is achieved, which improves the overall order processing efficiency, effectively reduces resource waste, and improves the utilization rate of robot capacity.

[0065] Step S202 : Grouping the boxes to be transported to obtain at least one task group. The task group corresponding to the target transport box is different from the task groups corresponding to other boxes.

[0066] Among them, the other material boxes are material boxes other than the target material box among the material boxes to be transported.

[0067] The to-be-transported boxes corresponding to the workstation may all be target transport boxes, or may include target transport boxes and other boxes.

[0068] The boxes to be moved corresponding to the workstations can be grouped based on their location and type, with the principle of minimizing the moving cost. The type of the box to be moved indicates whether the box to be moved is a target box.

[0069] The number of boxes to be handled in a task group must be less than or equal to the maximum number of boxes a robot can handle in a single operation, which is specifically the number of backpacks a robot can carry. If a robot has 6 backpacks, then each task group can only have a maximum of 6 boxes to be handled.

[0070] In order to improve the utilization rate of the robot's transportation capacity, when grouping, as many task groups as possible should contain a number of boxes to be transported that is equal to the number of robot backpacks.

[0071] For the convenience of description, the task group where the target transport box is located is called the target group, and the task groups where other boxes are located are called other groups.

[0072] Step S203, according to the sorting result of at least one task group, assign a robot to at least one task group to control the assigned robot to transport at least one task group to the workstation; in the sorting result, the task group containing the target transport box is arranged before the task group not containing the target transport box.

[0073] When there is only one task group, that is, when at least one task group is one target group, a robot can be directly allocated to the target group so that the robot can carry each to-be-carried material box of the target group.

[0074] After grouping the bins to be handled corresponding to the workstations, the resulting task groups are sorted. Task groups can be sorted by the priority or type of the bins to be handled, or by the type of task group. The task group type indicates whether the task group is a target group or another group. Specifically, the target group is prioritized in the sorting results, allowing robots to be assigned to it first, thereby prioritizing the handling of the target bins in the target group.

[0075] For multiple task groups of the same task group type, the multiple task groups can be further sorted based on parameters such as the number of to-be-transported boxes contained in the task group, the storage locations and lanes where the to-be-transported boxes contained in the task group are located, and so on.

[0076] After obtaining the sorting results of multiple task groups, robots are assigned to each task group in turn according to the sorting results.

[0077] For example, if a workstation's corresponding robots include only two idle robots and there are three task groups, then through sorting, the first and second task groups in the sorting results can be assigned to the two idle robots in sequence. For the third task group in the sorting results, a robot, such as Robot A, can be selected from the robots currently executing tasks at the workstation to perform the third task group. After completing its current task, Robot A can perform tasks such as placing goods, picking up goods, or patrolling before performing the third task group. Therefore, task group sorting further ensures that high-priority bins are handled first, improving the processing efficiency of orders in the tail-end clearance scenario.

[0078] After a robot is assigned to a task group, a dispatch instruction is generated for the robot, which then controls the robot to move each of the task group's to-be-moved containers to a workstation, such as a corresponding slot in the workstation. The corresponding slot is specifically the slot corresponding to the order of the wave to which the task group belongs.

[0079] The task allocation method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure realizes the identification of the tail-clearing scenario through the set tail-clearing scenario trigger condition, thereby giving priority to assigning robot tasks to the material boxes in the tail-clearing scenario, that is, the target handling material boxes, so that the robot gives priority to handling the material boxes in the tail-clearing scenario, speeding up the processing speed of the wave orders corresponding to the tail-clearing scenario, shortening the processing time, and improving the order processing efficiency.

[0080] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the task allocation method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure Figure 2 , this embodiment Figure 2 Based on the embodiment, the task allocation method is described in detail. Figure 3As shown, the task allocation method may specifically include the following steps:

[0081] Step S301: When the number of to-be-carried boxes corresponding to a workstation is less than a third quantity threshold, orders of a target wave are allocated to the workstation.

[0082] The third quantity threshold is greater than the first quantity threshold.

[0083] Exemplarily, the third quantity threshold may be K times the second quantity threshold, where K is an integer greater than 1, such as 2, 3, 5, or other values.

[0084] The material boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation are specifically the material boxes that are hit by the orders of the wave (abbreviated as the current wave) that the workstation is processing and are to be transported to the workstation.

[0085] As the robot continues to transport the boxes to be transported corresponding to the current wave to the workstation, the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation continues to decrease. When the number is reduced to less than the third quantity threshold, in order to improve resource utilization, it is necessary to allocate orders for a new wave to the workstation. The new wave can be the target wave determined from the wave that has not been assigned a workstation.

[0086] The target wave can be a designated wave, the earliest dispatched wave among the waves not assigned to a workstation, or the wave with the highest matching degree with the workstation. In some embodiments, the target wave can be determined from the waves not assigned to a workstation based on the wave dispatch time and the matching degree between the wave and the workstation. The matching degree between the wave and the workstation can be determined based on the order demand for the wave order and the inventory in the storage area corresponding to the workstation.

[0087] After determining the target wave, the orders of the target wave are assigned to the workstations so that the sorting of the target wave orders can be achieved through the corresponding robots, slots and containers of the workstations.

[0088] If the number of to-be-transported boxes corresponding to the workstation is greater than or equal to the third quantity threshold, the workstation continues to process the current wave of orders without allocating new wave orders to the workstation.

[0089] Step S302 : Setting the priority of the to-be-transported material box corresponding to the workstation to be transported to be higher than the priority of the material box corresponding to the order of the target wave.

[0090] When the orders of the target wave are assigned to the workstation, the priority of the material boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation before the target wave is assigned also needs to be updated. Specifically, the priority is updated from a lower priority, such as the default priority, to a higher priority, such as a high priority. The priority of the material boxes corresponding to the orders of the target wave is a lower priority, such as the default priority.

[0091] When a workstation processes only one wave of orders, the priority of the containers to be moved corresponding to that wave's orders is lower, recorded as the default priority. When a workstation needs to process two waves of orders simultaneously, the priority of the containers corresponding to the newly assigned wave (i.e., the target wave) is set to the default priority, and the priority of the containers to be moved corresponding to the old wave (i.e., the wave assigned to the workstation before the target wave) is updated to the high priority.

[0092] Taking the third quantity of 100 as an example, from t0 to t1, the workstation only processes orders for wave 31, and at t1, the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the orders for wave 31 is 95, which is less than 100. At this time, the orders for wave 32 are assigned to the workstation, and the number of boxes corresponding to the orders for wave 32 is 10. The priority of the 95 boxes to be transported corresponding to the orders for wave 31 is updated to high priority, and the priority of the 10 boxes corresponding to the orders for wave 32 is updated to default priority.

[0093] Step S303: Update the material box to be transported corresponding to the workstation.

[0094] After allocating the orders of the new wave, i.e. the target wave, to the workstation and updating the priorities of the boxes to be transported corresponding to the old wave orders, it is also necessary to update the boxes corresponding to the new wave orders to the boxes to be transported of the workstation.

[0095] The to-be-carried boxes corresponding to the workstation can be continuously updated. For example, after the robot transports the to-be-carried boxes of the corresponding task group to the workstation, the boxes that have been transported to the workstation need to be deleted from the to-be-carried boxes corresponding to the workstation, and after a new wave of orders is assigned to the workstation, the boxes corresponding to the wave of orders need to be added as to-be-carried boxes corresponding to the workstation.

[0096] Step S304: when the number of high-priority boxes among the boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation is less than the second quantity threshold, the boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation are determined as target transport boxes; or, when the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation is less than the first quantity threshold, all the boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation are determined as target transport boxes.

[0097] The triggering conditions of the tail-clearing scenario include two sub-conditions. If any one of the sub-conditions is met, the tail-clearing scenario is triggered, and then the target transport box corresponding to the tail-clearing scenario is determined to achieve rapid transportation of the target transport box, thereby quickly processing the orders corresponding to the tail-clearing scenario.

[0098] One of the two sub-conditions of the trigger condition for the tail-clearing scenario is for high-priority boxes to be transported, specifically, the number of high-priority boxes in the boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation is less than the second quantity threshold; the other is for all boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation, specifically, the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation is less than the first quantity threshold.

[0099] When the tail-clearing scenario is not triggered, that is, when the triggering conditions of the tail-clearing scenario are not met, all the boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation can be grouped according to a unified grouping method, and robots can be assigned to each task group obtained by grouping according to a unified task allocation method. Compared with the grouping and allocation method when the tail-clearing scenario is triggered, the difference is that there is no need to distinguish the types of boxes to be transported and the types of task groups, that is, all boxes to be transported are grouped and allocated to each task group in a unified manner.

[0100] After determining the target handling bins corresponding to the tail-clearing scenario, it is necessary to group the bins currently corresponding to the workstations to be handled to achieve robot task allocation. In order to improve the accuracy of grouping and reduce handling costs, grouping can be performed using the solutions provided in steps S305 and S306.

[0101] Step S305: Obtain the lane access sequence of the storage system.

[0102] Lanes are passages between warehouse shelves, primarily used for the passage of personnel, robots, and other equipment. The lane access sequence describes the optimal order for accessing lanes within a warehouse system. Optimal refers to the order in which a robot moves through each lane to transport or store bins, minimizing travel costs.

[0103] The lane visit sequence can be determined based on parameters such as the direction of each lane in the storage system and the distance between lanes. In the lane visit sequence, the lanes can be connected in series in a serpentine manner to reduce the number of turns and travel distance of the robot.

[0104] The order of lane access can be determined based on the lane coordinates in the warehouse map of the storage system. The lane coordinates can be expressed as the coordinates of the lane's start and end points. The lane's start point is the first point passed when entering the lane, and the end point is the last point passed when exiting the lane.

[0105] The lane access order can be automatically updated after a preset number of invocations. This means that after a preset number of invocations, the warehouse map is re-read to obtain the lane coordinates on the map. Based on these coordinates, the lane access order is re-determined. When the warehouse map is updated, the lane access order can also be re-determined based on the updated lane coordinates on the map.

[0106] For example, Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a lane access sequence provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in FIG. Figure 4 Take the warehouse of the storage system as an example, which includes 6 lanes, namely lanes 41 to 46. The layout of each lane is as follows: Figure 4 As shown. Figure 4 In the warehouse shown in the figure, with lane 41 as the starting lane, the lane access sequence is: lane 41, lane 45, lane 46, lane 42, lane 43, lane 44, thus forming a lane like Figure 4 The serpentine trajectory shown in the dashed line is used to reduce the number of turns when the robot transports bins in multiple aisles.

[0107] Step S306 , based on the lane access sequence, the type of the boxes to be transported, the lane where the boxes to be transported are located, the robot's maximum travel distance, and the robot's single box transport volume, the boxes to be transported are grouped to obtain at least one task group.

[0108] The type of the to-be-carried crate indicates whether it is the target crate. The robot's single crate handling capacity describes the maximum number of crates the robot can handle in a single trip, typically determined by the number of backpacks the robot carries.

[0109] Specifically, for the same type of boxes to be transported, such as the target transport box, the boxes of this type are grouped based on the lane where the box is located, according to the lane access order, with the robot's maximum walking distance and the robot's single box transport volume as constraints.

[0110] A task group contains boxes of the same type to be transported, with a maximum number of boxes that can be transported at a time by the robot, and the robot must not travel more than the maximum distance when executing the task group.

[0111] For the same type of bins to be moved, the bins in each lane can be sorted according to the order in which the lanes are visited. Bins in the same lane can have the same sequence number or be sorted according to other metrics. Bins of the same type are grouped according to the sorting results, with the constraints that the robot's travel distance during the execution of the divided task group does not exceed the robot's maximum travel distance and that the number of bins to be moved in the task group does not exceed the robot's single-time handling capacity.

[0112] For example, let's assume the robot carries six backpacks. Assume that the target bins for each lane are sorted according to the lane access order: bins B01 to B05 in lane a, bins B06 to B10 in lane b, and bins B11 to B18 in lane c. Without considering the robot's maximum travel distance, the resulting grouping includes three task groups, each containing bins B01 to B06, B07 to B12, and B13 to B18. Introducing constraints corresponding to the robot's maximum travel distance increases the number of task groups, with some containing fewer than six bins. For example, one possible grouping might include bins B01 to B05 in one group, bins B06 to B10 in another, bins B11 to B16 in another, and bins B17 and B18 in another, for a total of four task groups.

[0113] Step S307: traverse each task group according to the sorting result of at least one task group.

[0114] After the grouping is complete and the divided task groups are obtained, if the number of task groups is greater than 1, the task groups are sorted. The task groups can be sorted by task group type, and the task groups can be divided into high-priority task groups and low-priority task groups. The high-priority task group is the task group where the target transport bin is located, and the bins included in the low-priority task group are the bins to be transported excluding the target transport bin.

[0115] For multiple task groups of the same type, they can be sorted randomly or according to certain rules, such as sorting according to the lanes where the material boxes contained in the task group are located.

[0116] After sorting the task groups, robots are assigned to each task group in sequence according to the sorting results. That is, each task group is traversed according to the order of the task groups in the sorting results to assign robots to each traversed task group.

[0117] Step S308: For any traversed task group, calculate the transportation cost of each available robot corresponding to the workstation to execute the task group, and assign a robot to the task group based on the transportation cost, and control the assigned robot to transport the corresponding task group to the workstation.

[0118] The available robot corresponding to the workstation may be a robot that can be used for material box handling among the robots corresponding to the workstation, such as an idle robot.

[0119] When assigning robots to task groups, in order to reduce costs, it is necessary to calculate the transportation cost and assign the task group to the robot with the lowest transportation cost.

[0120] The transportation cost can be calculated based on the lanes where the containers included in the task group are located, the total number of containers included, etc.

[0121] The cost of a robot carrying a task group can be determined by a variety of factors, including the congestion level of the lanes containing the containers to be carried, the number of turns the robot must make while carrying the task group, the number of lanes the task group crosses, and the distance the robot travels while carrying the task group. It can also be related to the priority of the containers to be carried within the task group.

[0122] In this embodiment, when the current wave task volume is low, the new wave is assigned to the workstation. At the same time, when the new wave is issued, the priority of the boxes to be transported corresponding to the previous wave is increased, thereby improving resource utilization. At the same time, by adjusting the priority of the boxes of the old wave, the impact of the issuance of the new wave on the processing efficiency of the old wave is reduced; when dividing the task groups, the aisle access sequence of the warehousing system, the attributes of the boxes (including type and aisle) and the attributes of the robots (including the farthest walking distance and the single handling volume of the boxes) are fully considered, which improves the rationality of the grouping, reduces the walking distance of the robots when transporting the same group of boxes, and achieves cost reduction, efficiency improvement and resource allocation optimization; through task group sorting, priority is given to processing waves that are entering the end (near completion), thereby improving the efficiency of single wave processing; when assigning robots to task groups, the handling cost is taken into consideration, thereby further reducing the cost of task execution.

[0123] Optionally, the handling cost of each available robot corresponding to the workstation to execute the task group is calculated, including: based on the aisle where the material boxes to be transported in the task group are located, determining the number of aisles crossed by the task group and the number of turns of the robot when executing the task group; for each available robot corresponding to the workstation, based on the position of the available robots, calculating the box moving cost of the available robots to transport the material boxes to be transported in the task group; based on the number and priority of the material boxes to be transported in the task group, the number of aisles crossed by the task group and the number of turns of the robot when executing the task group, the congestion level of the aisle where the material boxes to be transported in the task group are located, and the box moving cost, determining the handling cost of the available robots to execute the task group.

[0124] The cross-aisle number of a task group is used to describe the total number of aisles where the bins contained in the task group are located, and can also be equal to the total number minus 1. The larger the cross-aisle number of a task group, the higher the handling cost.

[0125] The number of turns of a robot can represent the time cost and mechanical wear of the robot when performing a task group. Therefore, this item needs to be considered when determining the transportation cost. The fewer the number of turns, the lower the transportation cost.

[0126] The box moving cost of transporting the material boxes in the robot transport task group can be determined based on the walking distance of the transported material boxes in the robot transport task group. The higher the box moving cost, the higher the transport cost.

[0127] Without considering other factors, when calculating handling costs, the handling cost is calculated when the number of boxes to be handled in the task group is equal to the robot's single-handed handling capacity. The handling cost is calculated when the number of boxes to be handled in the task group is less than the robot's single-handed handling capacity. For example, when the number of boxes to be handled in the task group is equal to the robot's single-handed handling capacity, a negative value can be added to the handling cost calculation.

[0128] If the priority of the material box to be transported is high, a negative value can also be added when calculating the transportation cost, so as to ensure priority allocation to the task group to which the high-priority material box to be transported belongs.

[0129] The congestion level of the aisle where the material boxes to be transported in the task group are located is positively correlated with the transportation cost. The higher the congestion level, the longer the robot needs to wait when performing the corresponding task, the higher the time cost, and thus the higher the transportation cost.

[0130] For example, the congestion level of an alley can be determined by the number of robots performing tasks in the alley.

[0131] For example, the transport cost can be expressed as: w1 × the sum of the congestion levels of each lane + w2 × the number of lanes spanned by the task group – w3 × C1 – w4 × C2 + w5 × the number of turns required by the robot when executing the task group + w6 × the cost of handling boxes in the robot's task group. w1 through w6 are weight coefficients; C1 is a positive number (e.g., 100, 10000, etc.) when the number of boxes to be handled in the task group equals the robot's single-transfer capacity; otherwise, it is 0; C2 is a positive number (e.g., 100, 10000, etc.) when the priority of the boxes to be handled in the task group is high; otherwise, it is 0.

[0132] By calculating the handling cost based on the aforementioned multiple factors, the accuracy of the handling cost calculation is improved, reasonable task allocation is achieved, resource allocation is optimized, and the efficiency of material box handling is improved.

[0133] In addition to idle robots, available robots may also include robots in transit. Robots in transit are robots that are performing other tasks, such as robots that are performing other previously assigned task groups to carry boxes.

[0134] For idle robots among available robots, the handling cost can be calculated using the aforementioned method. For robots in transit among available robots, the handling cost calculation takes into account not only the handling cost determined using the aforementioned method, but also the cost of the robot in transit performing other tasks. In other words, the handling cost of a robot in transit performing a task group consists of two parts: the in-transit cost and the cost of executing that task group. The calculation of these costs is the same as the handling cost of an idle robot performing that task group, differing only in the specific robot. The in-transit cost represents the cost of executing other previously assigned task groups.

[0135] Assume that the task groups are sorted as task1, task2, and task3. The workstation contains two idle robots, r1 and r2, and one robot, r3, currently executing a previously assigned task group, task0. The cost for robot r3 to complete task0 is still cost30. First, assign a robot to task1. Assume that the costs for robots r1, r2, and r3 to complete task1 are cost11, cost21, and cost31, respectively. If cost21 is the smallest among cost11, cost21, and (cost31 + cost30), then assign task1 to robot r2. Next, assign a robot to task2. Assume that the costs for robots r1 and r3 to complete task2 are cost12 and cost32, respectively. If cost12 is the smallest among cost12 and (cost32 + cost30), then assign task2 to robot r1. Finally, assign task3 to robot r3.

[0136] When calculating the handling costs for robots in transit and idle robots, the main difference lies in the calculation of the box moving cost. The boxes that idle robots need to move are only the boxes to be moved in the task group to be assigned. The box moving cost of robots in transit also needs to take into account the boxes to be moved in other task groups that the robots in transit are currently executing.

[0137] For idle robots among available robots, the cost of moving boxes in a task group can be determined based on the distance traveled by the idle robots. For robots in transit among available robots, their cost of moving boxes needs to take into account the in-transit costs.

[0138] Optionally, based on the position of the available robots, the cost of moving the boxes to be moved in the available robot handling task group is calculated, including: if the available robot is executing other task groups, then based on the position of the available robot and the warehouse location of the boxes to be moved in other task groups, the in-transit cost of the available robot is determined; based on the in-transit cost of the available robot and the walking distance of the available robot executing the task group, the cost of moving the boxes to be moved in the available robot handling task group is determined.

[0139] When assigning task groups, some of the available robots at a workstation may be executing previously assigned task groups, such as those assigned to the robot during the last task group assignment. These robots are considered in-transit robots. The cost of moving boxes for in-transit robots must be considered when calculating the cost of moving boxes. This cost is determined based on both the in-transit cost and the distance traveled by the in-transit robot during the task group.

[0140] The in-transit cost is the cost of performing other assigned task groups for the robot in transit. Specifically, the distance the robot travels to transport the in-transit boxes is determined based on the robot's location and the locations of the remaining boxes to be transported (represented as in-transit boxes) in the other task groups it is currently performing. The in-transit cost is then determined based on this distance.

[0141] By introducing the in-transit cost of robots in transit, task groups can be assigned to idle robots first, which improves the utilization rate of robot capacity and shortens the time to complete tasks.

[0142] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the task allocation method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure Figure 3 , this embodiment Figure 2 Based on the embodiment, the task allocation method is described in detail. Figure 5 As shown, the task allocation method may specifically include the following steps:

[0143] Step S501, determine whether to allocate a new wave to the workstation; if so, execute step S502; if not, execute step S504.

[0144] Step S502: The new wave of orders is allocated to the workstation.

[0145] Specifically, when the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the wave being executed by the workstation is less than the third quantity threshold, orders of a new wave, such as a target wave, are allocated to the workstation for sorting of the new wave orders.

[0146] After allocating the new wave of orders to the workstation, you also need to further allocate slots for the new wave of orders to the workstation so that the new wave can be posted on the wall.

[0147] Step S503: Raise the priority of the material box to be transported at the workstation.

[0148] After the new wave is put on the wall, that is, the slot of the workstation is allocated to the new wave assigned to the workstation, or the slot of the seed wall of the workstation is allocated, the priority of the to-be-moved material box corresponding to the old wave of the workstation is increased, for example, adjusted to a high priority.

[0149] Step S504, determine whether the tail clearing mechanism is triggered; if so, execute step S505; if not, execute step S507.

[0150] Specifically, it can be determined whether the material box to be transported corresponding to the workstation meets the triggering conditions of the tail-clearing scenario; if so, the tail-clearing mechanism is triggered; if not, the tail-clearing mechanism is not triggered.

[0151] Step S505: Determine a target transport box from the to-be-transported boxes corresponding to the workstation.

[0152] Step S506: group the target transport box and other to-be-transported boxes corresponding to the workstations.

[0153] Step S507: group all the boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstations.

[0154] Step S508: sort the task groups according to the priorities of the bins in the task groups.

[0155] Step S509: Based on the sorting results, robots are assigned to each task group in turn to obtain a robot scheduling solution.

[0156] Step S510: outputting a robot scheduling solution to control the robot to execute the assigned task group.

[0157] Figure 6 A structural diagram of a task allocation device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in FIG. Figure 6 As shown, the task allocation device 60 provided in this embodiment includes: a tail-clearing mechanism triggering module 610 , a task grouping module 620 and a task allocation module 630 .

[0158] The tail-clearing mechanism trigger module 610 is used to determine the target transport box corresponding to the tail-clearing scenario when the number of to-be-transported boxes corresponding to the workstation meets the trigger condition of the tail-clearing scenario; the task grouping module 620 is used to group the to-be-transported boxes to obtain at least one task group, wherein the task group corresponding to the target transport box is different from the task groups corresponding to other boxes, and the other boxes are the boxes to be transported except the target transport box; the task allocation module 630 is used to allocate a robot to at least one task group according to the sorting result of at least one task group, so as to control the allocated robot to transport at least one task group to the workstation; wherein, in the sorting result, the task group including the target transport box is arranged before the task group not including the target transport box.

[0159] In one possible embodiment, the tail-clearing mechanism triggering module 610 is specifically used to: when the number of boxes to be transported is less than a first quantity threshold, determine all the boxes to be transported as target transport boxes; or, when the number of high-priority boxes among the boxes to be transported is less than a second quantity threshold, determine the high-priority boxes as target transport boxes.

[0160] In one possible embodiment, the task allocation device 60 also includes a new wave allocation module, which is used to: allocate the orders of the target wave to the workstation when the number of boxes to be transported corresponding to the workstation is less than a third quantity threshold; and set the priority of the boxes to be transported to be higher than the priority of the boxes corresponding to the orders of the target wave.

[0161] In one possible embodiment, the task grouping module 620 is specifically used to: obtain the aisle access sequence of the warehousing system; group the boxes to be transported based on the aisle access sequence, the type of the box to be transported, the aisle where the box to be transported is located, the robot's maximum walking distance, and the robot's single box transport volume to obtain at least one task group; wherein the type of the box to be transported is used to indicate whether the box to be transported is a target transport box.

[0162] In one possible embodiment, the task assignment module 630 includes: a traversal unit for traversing each task group according to the sorting result; a transportation cost calculation unit for calculating the transportation cost of each available robot corresponding to the workstation to execute the task group for any traversed task group; and a task assignment unit for assigning robots to the task group based on the transportation cost.

[0163] In one possible embodiment, the handling cost calculation unit includes: a task group attribute determination subunit, which is used to determine the number of aisles crossed by the task group and the number of turns of the robot when executing the task group based on the aisle where the material boxes to be transported in the task group are located; a box moving cost calculation subunit, which is used to calculate the box moving cost of the available robots for handling the material boxes to be transported in the task group based on the position of the available robots for each available robot corresponding to the workstation; a handling cost calculation subunit, which is used to determine the handling cost of the available robots for executing the task group based on the number and priority of the material boxes to be transported in the task group, the number of aisles crossed by the task group and the number of turns of the robot when executing the task group, the congestion level of the aisle where the material boxes to be transported in the task group are located, and the box moving cost.

[0164] In one possible embodiment, the box moving cost calculation subunit is specifically used to: if the available robot is executing other task groups, determine the in-transit cost of the available robot based on the position of the available robot and the warehouse location of the boxes to be moved by other task groups; determine the box moving cost of the boxes to be moved in the available robot handling task group based on the in-transit cost of the available robot and the walking distance of the available robot executing the task group.

[0165] The task allocation device provided in this embodiment can execute the task allocation method provided in the above method embodiment. Its implementation principle and technical effects are similar and will not be described in detail in this embodiment.

[0166] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the scheduling device provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 7 As shown, the scheduling device 70 provided in this embodiment includes: a processor 701 and a memory 702.

[0167] In a specific implementation process, the memory 702 stores computer-executable instructions; the processor 701 executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 702 , so that the processor 701 executes the above-mentioned task allocation method.

[0168] The specific implementation process of the processor 701 can be found in the above method embodiment. Its implementation principle and technical effects are similar and will not be repeated here in this embodiment.

[0169] Optionally, the scheduling device 70 further includes a communication component 703. The processor 701, the memory 702 and the communication component 703 may be connected via a bus.

[0170] In the above embodiments, it should be understood that the processor may be a central processing unit (CPU), other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in the present invention may be directly executed by a hardware processor or by a combination of hardware and software modules within the processor.

[0171] The memory may include random access memory (RAM) and may also include non-volatile memory (NVM), such as at least one disk storage.

[0172] A bus can be an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus. Buses can be categorized as address buses, data buses, and control buses. For ease of illustration, the buses in the figures of this disclosure are not limited to just one bus or just one type of bus.

[0173] The present disclosure also provides a computer program product, including a computer program, which implements the above method when executed by a processor.

[0174] The present disclosure also provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which computer-executable instructions are stored. When a processor executes the computer-executable instructions, the above method is implemented.

[0175] The readable storage medium may be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile memory device, or a combination thereof, such as static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic storage, flash memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk. The readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.

[0176] An exemplary readable storage medium is coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from the readable storage medium and write information to the readable storage medium. Of course, the readable storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the readable storage medium can be located in an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Of course, the processor and the readable storage medium can also exist in the device as discrete components.

[0177] The division of units is merely a logical functional division; actual implementations may employ alternative divisions, such as combining or integrating multiple units or components into another system, or omitting or disabling certain features. Furthermore, any direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units, either through an interface, electrical, mechanical, or other means.

[0178] Units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0179] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0180] If a function is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, or the portion that contributes to the prior art, or a portion of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the various embodiments of the method of the present invention. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program code, such as USB flash drives, mobile hard drives, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0181] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the steps in the above-described method embodiments can be implemented using hardware associated with program instructions. The aforementioned program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When executed, the program performs the steps of the above-described method embodiments. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0182] Finally, it should be noted that those skilled in the art will readily identify other embodiments of the present invention after considering the specification and practicing the invention disclosed herein. The present invention is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present invention that follow the general principles of the present invention and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The present invention is not limited to the precise structure described above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and various modifications and variations may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present invention is limited solely by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A task allocation method, characterized in that: include: When the number of to-be-carried boxes corresponding to the workstation meets the triggering condition of the tail-clearing scenario, determining the target transport box corresponding to the tail-clearing scenario; Grouping the boxes to be transported to obtain at least one task group, wherein the task group corresponding to the target transport box is different from the task groups corresponding to other boxes, and the other boxes are boxes among the boxes to be transported except the target transport box; According to the sorting result of the at least one task group, a robot is assigned to the at least one task group to control the assigned robot to transport the at least one task group to the workstation; wherein, in the sorting result, the task group including the target transport box is arranged before the task group not including the target transport box.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that When the number of the to-be-transported material boxes corresponding to the workstation meets the triggering condition of the tail-clearing scenario, determining the target transport material box corresponding to the tail-clearing scenario includes: When the number of the boxes to be transported is less than a first number threshold, all of the boxes to be transported are determined as the target transport boxes; or When the number of the high-priority boxes among the boxes to be transported is less than a second number threshold, the high-priority boxes are determined to be the target transport boxes.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The method further comprises: When the number of the to-be-carried boxes corresponding to the workstation is less than a third quantity threshold, allocating the target wave of orders to the workstation; The priority of the to-be-transported container is set higher than the priority of the container corresponding to the target wave of orders.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The grouping of the boxes to be transported to obtain at least one task group includes: Get the aisle access sequence of the storage system; Grouping the boxes to be transported based on the lane visit sequence, the type of the boxes to be transported, the lane where the boxes to be transported are located, the robot's maximum travel distance, and the robot's single box transport volume to obtain the at least one task group; The type of the to-be-transported container is used to indicate whether the to-be-transported container is the target transported container.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein Allocating a robot to the at least one task group according to the sorting result of the at least one task group includes: According to the sorting result, traverse each of the task groups; For any of the traversed task groups, the transportation cost of each available robot corresponding to the workstation to execute the task group is calculated, and a robot is allocated to the task group based on the transportation cost.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The calculating of the transport cost of each available robot corresponding to the workstation to execute the task group includes: Based on the lanes where the boxes to be transported in the task group are located, determining the number of lanes crossed by the task group and the number of turns of the robot when executing the task group; For each available robot corresponding to the workstation, based on the position of the available robot, calculating a box moving cost for the available robot to move the to-be-moved box in the task group; Based on the number and priority of the boxes to be transported in the task group, the number of aisles crossed by the task group and the number of turns of the robot when executing the task group, the congestion level of the aisles where the boxes to be transported in the task group are located, and the cost of moving the boxes, the transportation cost of the available robots to execute the task group is determined.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The calculating, based on the position of the available robot, the box moving cost of the available robot moving the to-be-moved box in the task group includes: If the available robot is currently executing other task groups, the in-transit cost of the available robot is determined based on the location of the available robot and the location of the material boxes to be transported by the other task groups; The box moving cost of the available robot moving the to-be-moved boxes in the task group is determined based on the in-transit cost of the available robot and the travel distance of the available robot in executing the task group.

8. A task allocation device, characterized in that: include: A tail-clearing mechanism triggering module is used to determine the target transport box corresponding to the tail-clearing scenario when the number of to-be-transported boxes corresponding to the workstation meets the triggering condition of the tail-clearing scenario; a task grouping module, configured to group the boxes to be transported to obtain at least one task group, wherein the task group corresponding to the target transport box is different from the task groups corresponding to other boxes, and the other boxes are the boxes to be transported except the target transport box; A task assignment module is used to assign a robot to the at least one task group according to the sorting result of the at least one task group, so as to control the assigned robot to transport the at least one task group to the workstation; wherein, in the sorting result, the task group including the target transport box is arranged before the task group not including the target transport box.

9. A scheduling device, characterized in that: include: Memory, processor; The memory stores computer-executable instructions; The processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory, so that the processor performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, which are used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 when executed by a processor.

11. A computer program product, characterized in that The invention comprises a computer program, which implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 when executed by a processor.

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